IF YOU ARE SHOWING SYMPTOMS OF CORONO VIRUS WHAT TO DO

if you are showing symptoms of corono virus what to do

                                  

If you think you have the corona virus the automatic reflex and trigger needs to be self-isolation avoid being in public that means don't go to work don't go to school don't be a hero your meeting can wait this is too important the next step is to call your health care practitioner tell them your symptoms and they will instruct you what to do the headline here is don't just show up unannounced you could be putting other people at risk and this is exactly where we were trying to avoid are they're currently covid 19 tests readily available who wants to be tested no not for anyone who wants to be tested who stumbled at the beginning of this now pandemic with faulty test kits so yes if you are looking for tests they are here but they have to be ordered wisely and intuitively by your health care practitioner so you can't just show up and go through a drive-thru like we're seeing in Korea at the moment but they are becoming more widely available and certainly testing is ramping up each day all right bring us up to speed.

                                    

 when it comes to the development of a vaccine for this great question

 it appears we are on track to test a vaccine on people within a matter of weeks we are seeing scientists out of the United States even University of Saskatchewan China Israel all developing potential vaccines but I have to stress this will only be in a clinical trial setting to see if it's safe and effective if all goes well with testing reviewing and monitoring the projection is for the general public a vaccine will become available in about 12 months.

                                   

now speaking of vaccines many people are wondering whether the flu shot will offer any type of protection No point-blank no neither will prevent you from getting this coronavirus but where it can make a difference is by reducing the number of people getting the flu and being sick and potentially filling up our ICU beds and ventilators in the hospital look my biggest fear right now is that our Hospital search to 200% capacity like we're seeing in Italy and our resources get so stretched beyond capacity this is a serious worry imagine sick patients being turned down in hospitals because we don't have enough beds or enough space or even enough ventilators so any prevention measure including getting a flu shot while not stopping you directly from getting this corona virus remain important all right a lot of people wondering what does it take to recover from this

 I imagine the answer is different for everyone it is different for everyone but let's emphasize most people do recover currently there isn't a cure in general though when we look at coronavirus patients they get supportive treatment that means fluids oxygen as they need medicines to reduce fevers but what might interest you definitely interest me is there's places around the world including the United States and Canada where we are trying out different medicines which previously were developed for the Ebola virus or even HIV and they have antiviral properties and they may be helping so this is at least something to hang our hat on.

let's see how this further changing seasons affect the virus's

 longevity a great question a lot of people are speculating but that's all we can do at this point is speculate for example we know that the flu it thrives in dry and cold weather and then tends to disappear when the weather warms up we hope we think that this may be the same scenario with the corona virus but it remains to be seen I believe it's gonna take more than just weather and a change in seasons to end this pandemic personally but time will tell hopefully the warmer weather and everything that we're doing right

now all the precautions were taking that will really curb this transmission and hopefully come to end this pandemic do pregnant women need to take any extra precautions long story short is we don't know  there isn't enough data for anyone to answer this question definitively there have been reports that mother's infected with coronavirus have had premature births but it's hard to know if they're actually directly related to the corona virus itself so despite not knowing every pregnant woman needs to remain vigilant fully alert and still extra cautious at this time.

                     what about children interestingly enough everything I've read and Xena perhaps you've heard this my suggests kids are faring much better than adults for example no children under the age of 10 have died and they represent less than one percent of cases that's great news but we don't know why this is happening why are they protected maybe it has something to do with their immune system this is certainly not to say though they aren't susceptible.

                            I still want to encourage people practice regular hygiene the hand-washing this needs to be done social distancing like closing the schools with March break and everyone traveling is the right thing to do so children we're about to find out but some there's something more to learn about this all right you talk about social distancing can I go out for dinner with my husband tonight I yes Carolyn if you're in a low risk area and Canada in Toronto still low risk and you can trust that people are honest about not coming in sick then yes you can go but I was talking to my friends yesterday and here is my advice this is for larger settings chips and dip not a good idea in fact anything that involves a communal 

  Bowl stay away from it don't share your Forks your knives your spoons don't sit from someone else's glass and wash your hands for the full 20 seconds before and after meals that's the best advice at this time so many people wondering when can we expect an end to this let's pray that it's soon look I need to reiterate this message especially with the new levels of panic and hysteria that have happened this week these are difficult times there is fear but we need to calm down we need to think practically and rationally washing our hands

                    remains a priority social distancing is reasonable and most importantly protecting our older loved ones our grandparents our parents those who took care of us when we were younger it's now time for us to do the same for them all right dr. Lucas thank you as always now if you have more questions that you would like answered Global News has set up an email specifically for that just email your questions at global news dot CA and our team of experts will get right on it you can also visit all the news dot CA / coronavirus for all the latest information we're gonna take a short break here on the money chil stay with us